Potential Cockatoo Owner....

[BirdEE]

Hello.

So I really love Cockatoos and have spent some time with them, multiple birds. I have however not owned my own. I’m not nervous of the bird itself, more so of all the people trying to convince me NOT to own one. I’ve read everything I can get my hands on the last 6 months or so about just their general behavior. I’ve watched countless hours of videos on the good and the bad, and the training involved. None of that scares me away, and how they interact makes me want one more. However, I’m leary based on some things I’ve read though. Because people basically try to scare away people who have never owned one before, from ever owning one. But every Cockatoo owner was once a first time Cockatoo owner (I’ve owned other birds)

Positives for me are.

We are home most of the time, and my wife is a stay at home mom, so she’s home all the time. The bird would be out most of the day with us, so there’s no worry of being in a cage for hours on end.

I have a good job so finances are no worries for vet visits and toys.

Negatives for it are really just all the people telling you not to own one.

We are going to meet a 9 year old female Moluccan that needs a rehome due to the owner getting a new job. He says she’s really good, doesn’t squak a ton, and basically just hangs out on her cage and watches the happenings around her. She’s also not a plucker and apparently loves when company comes over. He has kids too so she’s also used to children.

Is there anything I should worry about? Or Am I on the right track with tons of research and not just jumping in with my eyes closed?

 

[JLcribber]

Do you have any children? If not are you ready to have a child at this point? I ask this in all seriousness because that’s what you’re about to do is have a child. This child will never grow up. It will never move out. It walks around with pliers. And it will probably outlive you. If you’re ready for that, you’re sort of ready for a cockatoo.

This bird will take as much time, effort, money and sanity as any child.

 

[JLcribber]

You can read and research about cockatoos until your eyes bug out. You will never be prepared for that cockatoo. Trust me.

 

[BirdEE]

Yes, we do have kids.

And that’s what my only hold up is, the comments on never being ready. Then again I suppose the same applies to children as well. I can definitely confirm that having children is NOT what I expected it to be before I had one. Especially when you bring your first one home. But of course would not change it for anything.

 

[BirdEE]

The comment about an eternal child that runs around with a pair of pliers made me laugh hahaha.

 

[Fia Baby]

If she's 9 and doesn't pluck that's a big positive. Doesn't squawk a ton... could mean anything. Do make sure you're truly prepared to be around a very loud bird (and that your neighbors won't be bothered by her either). I'd definitely go meet her, but understand that you're not going to see her true self. She'll need a really large cage - most of the big ones available on line and at stores aren't really big enough, but there are some places to look - Expandable Habitats is a good company to look at. You can really customize them, and even add on to them in future. Cockatoos can be very destructive, so be prepared to keep your eye on her at all times when she's "at liberty" until you really know her habits. Be very cautious with her around your children - she may be a sweet heart at first, but with time she may show you a different side. I LOVE cockatoos, so you won't hear me tell you not to get her, but do evaluate YOUR personality carefully, and make sure you're really prepared to deal with a cockatoo who will sometimes be loud, destructive and fickle.

 

[Mizzely]

I advise against cockatoos without having one only because they are one of the species groups that really don't do well as pets. No one likes to hear it because they love them, but I wish they weren't in the pet trade. That goes for most parrots but cockatoos especially

 

[jmfleish]

I have Cockatoos...have been owned by a white one for...boy...15 years now. His name is Reggie Lou, he's a Ducorps' Cockatoo and he's near naked now at 17. He had a bout of zinc poisoning at 7 that was nearly impossible to get rid of. He was a hormonal mess from the time he entered my life until about the age of 12. He's calmed down a lot since then and never bites anymore but I've also gotten really, really good at reading his particular body language. We are very good pals...he's always been very bonded to me, so much so that his screaming is enough to want to strangle him! And this is a little Cockatoo...he weighs 400 grams. But I love him like no other and I honestly can't say that I would be the same without him and I think that I will always have a Cockatoo in my life...but I made a promise to myself a long time ago and have kept it...only one white one! Reggie has been it so far.

Like you, before he joined my family, I did so much reading up on D2s. I thought I could handle him. I visited him every week for six months before I finally took the plunge. We bonded before I even made the purchase. He never once screamed before I took him home. OMG! The screaming he did within hours of getting him home...and the screaming he has done over the last 17 years! But, he is all mine and I love him to bits!

I've always had a thing for Galahs too and purchased my first one almost 8 years ago...Kishka. Got him at five months of age. Light of my life until he turned about five and then he started attacking me and I do mean attacking me. Only bird I've ever truly been afraid of. Long story short, I also have his clutch mate, Fozzie. They share a cage and I call them the pink vampires. I'm praying they will come out of their hormonal craziness like Reggie did. They are nearly impossible to read as far as body language is concerned. I have a female who is four years younger and much calmer than they are but she's still a pistol. I also have a breeding pair in their teens...older and known personalities and wonderful! That's the way to go with a Cockatoo as far as I'm concerned!

Travel this path at your own peril!

 

[JLcribber]

Yes, we do have kids.

And that’s what my only hold up is, the comments on never being ready. Then again I suppose the same applies to children as well. I can definitely confirm that having children is NOT what I expected it to be before I had one. Especially when you bring your first one home. But of course would not change it for anything.

I think you have a handle on it then. I might also mention that this bird is going to need as much space as a child. That will mean a secure environment that is not his cage (But includes his cage as home base). Either a bird safe room or an indoor aviary. In time you will come to realize this anyway but I’m just giving you a heads up.

You cannot watch that bird every minute it’s out of its cage and if you don’t it will destroy your house.

 

[Clueless]

First and foremost, I do not own a cockatoo, have only held one once and do not intend to ever get one for multiple reasons.

Now, I'm prepared to be chastised......

We leapt in without an ounce of bird knowledge (zip, zilch, nada) and took in 2 of the hot 3 Amazon's. Yep. DNA Male, blue front amazons, wild caught to boot. I GUARANTEE you that folks would have told me not to if they had known.

I love them dearly. I didn't realize how much they would change our world. Are they a pain at times? Yes. Would I do it again? Don't know. I DO know I'd miss them terribly if they ever stopped being there.

My recommendation is to go buy a good lock for that cage of yours (cockatoo's are notoriously smart) and jump on in. Just be prepared. At some point there will be blood letting because you, like all of us, will probably do something wrong and the bird will bite (can you repeat after me: it is not the birds fault, I did something stupid) . If you can do that, welcome to bird ownership.

 

[cassiesdad]

Being owned by a cockatoo is a very challenging thing.

Are you flexible in your thinking...you need to be. Are you open to be learning about your 'too for the rest of your life...no one knows everything, and the BIRD will be your best teacher of the experiences you need to have. Sometimes the lessons will come with physical pain..bites...sometimes with "temporary" loss of hearing.

Sometimes you can do everything right...and things go wrong...your bird might start to pluck it's feathers (like my Milton) or worse, self mutilate...without any outward cause you can figure out.

Do you have a good sense of humor? Sometimes you just have to laugh...or you'd say, "to heck with it".

I always say, "A Cockatoo has the intelligence of a five year old, the temper of a two year old, with a can opener on their face, for sixty years.

No one likes to hear it because they love them, but I wish they weren't in the pet trade.

I agree with this...with my whole heart...but unfortunately, these birds will always be a part of the pet trade.

I'm not advising for or against you adopting this bird....after all, there was a time I didn't have a 'too in my life, and I decided to bring one into our home, with very little experience with "larger" birds. It turned out all right, but it was a mighty rocky road that I traveled...

 

[BirdEE]

Thank you all so much for the responses. A little more info for you here

She comes with her cage, and all her toys if we do decide to adopt her. The cage pictured is of decent sized.

We have a 3000 sq ft house and a spare bedroom that would be made into a place to house her cage. I intended on the cage and room being for play sometimes, but the cage being a sleeping cage. I’d then have another play gym in the living dining area, and another in the finished walk out basement (once we finish it. It’s currently unfinished now). We live in a very rural area on several acres of land and no neighbors in site, so that’s good. I also planned on building her an outdoor aviary for her to play on when the weather is nice and we are outside enjoying ourselves. We live in Michigan though so the sunny weathered is always enjoyed during the summer months!

 

[jmfleish]

Sounds like a plan. Know that you will be spending lots of money on her from here on out. You will either be buying lots of toys or the tools to make them! LOL! My best client has a male M2 and she places a $250 order with me about every three months like clock work. I won't lie, they really are a joy. Even my pink vampires really put a smile on my face. I spend almost every cent I have on my birds and don't regret any of it. I have an Expandable Habitats cage coming for the pink vampires. Nice cages for sure!

I think the thing that makes most of us Cockatoo owners sad is that so many jump in and get one and then regret it or realize how bad it can be and give up without a fight. I can't even tell you how many really nasty bites I've gotten over the years. Reggie sent me to Urgent Care one year about seven years ago for three stitches on my nose because he was on my shoulder and my Ekkie was on my other shoulder and he was trying to bite my Ekkie and missed! The pink vampires have delivered plenty of nasty bites...why do you think I fear them! Birds are not easy to live with...Cockatoos are even harder!

 

[Garet]

You really should listen to the people warning you about biting. Bird bites aren't the same as other animal bites. I've been bitten by my pit mix (thanks to my mom being dumb and not understanding that punishing a dog with a broom is a bad thing) and I've been bitten by lovebirds and budgies, and I'd rather get bitten by my dog than my birds. They're much smaller than toos, but they bite like a tank. My tiny 60 gram lovebirds have torn off skin and caused massive amounts of bleeding, I can't even imagine what they could have done if they were larger. There's a chance your wife will get bitten, too.

If you have kids, that's another thing to keep in mind. I'm an adult, and there's always that instinct to swat or grab whatever's hurting you and rip it off. I know better, so I ignore that instinct so I don't hurt my birds. Kids don't have that same reaction. There are a lot of videos out there of kids grabbing, biting and hitting birds and other small animals. It's the reason a lot of dogs turn around and bite. I had a friend rescue a dog from a shelter after the dog bit a kid in the face. The old owners were irresponsible and let their kid chew and gnaw on the dog's ears until they were infected and raw and bloody.

If you have a kid at home, you can't leave them unsupervised with your bird, or someone will get hurt.

 

[Fia Baby]

It sounds like you really have some pretty good resources and expectations. If she likes you guys, and you like her... I'd have a hard time saying "no" in that case. Make sure you all spend time with her at the beginning, and don't give her a chance to choose a favorite, to the best of your ability. I do think that male cockatoos (male parrots, for the most part) can be VERY different from the females. Though the females can still have their moments and be brats at times. I have a medium sulphur crested female who's 28. I've had her her entire life and I love her dearly. And we know each other extremely well, she likes everyone in the family but she's really bonded to me. That said, the other day I decided to take her cage outside to give it good scrub, and as I was removing things from it (with her hanging out on top) she went into full attack mode and really tried to do me harm. Now, I completely understand what was going on with her - I was really pretty invasive, and she was defending her home. She never attacks for daily cleaning and feeding, but this was an invasion of different degree. She was injured as a chick and lacks her lower beak, so she couldn't hurt me, but - she was definitely trying to, and I hadn't expected it, based on all our past interactions. Once I removed her from her cage she was fine. I don't know if you have other parrot experience or not, but these are some things you'll have to learn at some point, if you're going to have any sort of parrot.

 

[BirdEE]

Sounds like a plan. Know that you will be spending lots of money on her from here on out. You will either be buying lots of toys or the tools to make them! LOL!

Perfect! Woodworking is a major hobby of mine, so I own many many tools and planned on making most of her wooden toys myself from untreated pine and such. I also do metal fabrication as well, so I planned on making her outdoor aviary myself as well. This should cut down on the cost of buying many wooden toys for them to be quickly destroyed haha. I actually told the owner already that we are just coming for a visit and that we would be back to get her after after thinking it over. In that thinking over time if we did decide to get her, I would custom make her a play gym with lots of perching area and toys. And a wooden framed bottom that will have a rubber horse stall matt for easy cleanup with the hose outside. I intend on placing that in the living/dining area and making another for when we finish the basement as a second living area.

I definitely don't expect this to be like a finch (We have a mating pair of them when I was growing up as well) that just sits in its cage singing songs entertaining itself 365 days a year. Then again, that's why I was looking for a Cockatoo or something like that to begin with, because we want an interactive bird that enjoys being a member of the family and wants to play with us.

I have never personally owned a large parrot. I have had cockatiel's, budgies, love birds, finches. I have held and been around large parrots before, but never personally owned one.

 

[Laylatoo]

You’re jumping into the deep end but I think you have good expectations and ideas to happily keep a cockatoo. I have small pink female cockatoos and lost my one small white cockatoo male (bare eyed hybrid) last year. Those white cockatoos are their own kind of special and require special parronts that fully understand the ups and downs and the commitment level needed to maintain any sort of happiness in their world. As a cockatoo owner, I know I could never take on a larger white cockatoo myself but many do it successfully and love their white bundles of joy beyond words. I think if you have thought it through and feel like you’re up to the challenge, benefits and risks than you are starting off on the right foot!

One little thing... not sure if you mentioned how old your kids are but I am hoping you have older children. I couldn’t imagine having big beaks around my four kids in their younger years.

 

[Clueless]

With regard to bottom of play stand, mine has the old kitchen masonite/like paneling on the bottom. You just put a wet paper towel on top of it and it softens and cleans very easily.

 

[Fia Baby]

I like the play gym idea, but I too would use a different material for the bottom - something you can easily wipe off or throw in the washer. You won't like taking the stall mat outside in the winter in Michigan every week for a cleaning. Unless you cover it with something to catch the major mess. I use cheap cotton rugs from Walmart or target. They go in the wash easily, and are cheap enough to have a sizable supply for quick changes. I think you have most everything covered, except for actually getting your little bundle of joy. I've always wanted a moluccan also, and if I found one in a similar situation (female, good feather condition, good temperament...) I'd jumpt at the chance and pick up some ear plugs on the way home. If she has her own room, you can always use that for her play space when she's feeling loud or you need a break. Turn on some good music for her and let her tear it up for a bit. They do LOVE music and singing and dancing - mine can go from zero to 60 in about 3 seconds if I start singing and dancing for her! I know a lot of people say they don't make good pets, but for the right people, they make wonderful, life-long companions.

 

[HolliDaze]

It looks like you have the makings of a good 'too owner. We all try to convince people not to get a 'too because, if having a cockatoo is worth biting, screaming,constant attention, and behavior problems, then you should get a too! If your only issue with everything that's been said to convince you otherwise is that we're trying to convince, you're ready.
Imagine if a 14 year old told you they wanted to have a baby. Everyone wanting a cockatoo starts out as that 14 year old in our eyes.You'd do everything in your power to convince that kid not to get a child. Then, that "kid " tells you that they are actually 30, and you realize they're about as ready as they could get. The people trying to convince you against it were thinking you weren't ready. You've proven to everyone here you're as ready as you can get.
i hope that analogy made sense